I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to grasping means located at the end of retrieval means for tea bags and similar infusion packages. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in such grasping means which enable the user to effectively hook or clip the grasping means to the rim of the cup or other container in which the infusion is to take place.
II. Summary of the Prior Art
Infusion envelopes or bags have existed in one form or another for many years, and for many years attempts have been made to facilitate their use by incorporating into or attaching to the envelopes or bags various forms of retrieval and/or grasping means, stirring means, and disposal means. The well-known and widely used tea bag, for example, exists in several forms, all of which embody the basic bag or envelope of porous, non soluble material, now usually paper, containing the tea, to which a tag or label is connected by a string or tape. These and similar infusion package combinations suffer from the lack of any means for preventing the tag from being carried into the container during the infusion process. This may occur, for example as a result of the force exerted by the bag on the string as the hot water is poured onto the bag located in the container to make the tea. Similarly, it may occur when the string or tape becomes entangled with a spoon or stirrer as the liquid is stirred to hasten the infusion process. Once the tag has been carried into the container, its removal requires the awkward use of a spoon or stirrer. Further, in the not infrequent circumstance that no spoon or stirrer is available, the use of the fingers is required--an unsanitary practice which is neither safe nor prudent in view of the high water temperatures necessary for the proper steeping of tea.
Numerous attempts have been made to solve this problem, but none have been totally successful. The majority of such attempts have been obviously too expensive to manufacture efficiently; and each, in addition, interfered significantly with use of the tea bag in the normal infusion (steeping) process.
One approach to the alleviation of this problem which was advocated by several inventors, was to incorporate the grasping means and the infusion bag into a single package. In these devices, a tag or flap of sufficient size to cover at least one side of the infusion bag was utilized as the grasping means. The bag was affixed directly to the grasping means, and in use was suspended by the grasping means either against the inner wall of, or over the middle of, the container. Disposal of the used bag was facilitated by the presence of the large flap which could be closed against at least one side of the bag. The added cost of material, and the required changes in manufacturing and packaging machinery were severe disadvantages to the commercial exploitation of these devices. Further, these devices suffered from drawbacks such as limiting the user in his ability to assist the infusion process by stirring, and that the use of these devices in a deep mug or other large container was impractical because the bag would not be effectively immersed in the infusing liquid. Typical of this approach are Christie (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,726,956; 1988), Major (U.S. Pat. No. 3,387,978; 1968), Young (U.S. Pat. No. 2,728,672; 1955), and Maloney (U.S. Pat. No. 2,698,082; 1954). The Rambold patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,118; 1975) presented a variation upon the above theme. In that device, the flaps were longer than the height of the bag, and it was suggested that the flaps be hooked together during use of the bag in various ways to allow the bag to be immersed in deeper containers while facilitating its retrieval, and to allow the infusion process to be assisted by the user. This device faced the same economic problems mentioned above, however, and still provided no means other than the length of the flaps for preventing the grasping means from being carried into a deep container.
Others, such as Barnett (U.S. Pat. No. 2,431,680; 1947), Cleaves (U.S. Pat. No. 2,291,278; 1942), and Abbott (U.S. Pat. No. 1,665,080; 1928), experimented with rigid or semi-rigid retrieval means, whereby the entire bag/tag assembly could be handled like a spoon. These devices, like the foldable cover member package of Irmscher (U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,573; 1971), which was designed for squeezing excess liquid from the bag upon its removal from the container, were both expensive to make and awkward to package.
The more direct approach to the problem was taken by Fant (U.S. Pat. 3,692,536; 1972), and Teapack (French Patent No. 1,319,654; 1962). In each of these patents, the inventor suggests the provision of a flap formed in the interior portion of a tag like grasping means having its closed end facing the point of affixation of the retrieval means to the tag. In Teapack, it is suggested that this flap provides an opening in the tag allowing the tag to be hooked over the spout of a teapot. The orientation and shape of the Teapack flap were specifically selected to facilitate this use of the tag. In Fant, it is suggested that the flap provide a means for retention of the tag on the edge of the infusion container. When the flap of either of these devices is hooked over the rim of a container, however, the point of attachment of the retrieval means to the tag is located above the rim of the container. This is an unstable configuration since the torque induced about the rim, by the inflow of fluid against the bag pulling upon the retrieval means, tends to dislodge the tag. Further, as the width of the rim of the container becomes large, the angle of the rim-engaging flap to the tag increases. Since the natural resilience of the tag material tends to close the flap towards the plane of the remainder of the tag, the point of attachment of the retrieval means to the tag will tend to rise relative to the rim of the container after its placement thereon by the user. In extreme cases, the tag will become totally dislodged from the container rim without the application of any external force. The instability of internal tag flaps, particularly in association with wide container rims, accordingly renders them unsatisfactory as retention means for the grasping means attached to the retrieval means for infusion bags or envelopes.